QUICK THOUGHTS: Perhaps you’ll laugh once, but I can’t imagine you laughing again. I was not a big fan of Bruno when I saw it in the theater and I made it about halfway through watching the Blu-ray before I gave up and the friend I was watching it with felt the same. It’s just not funny, and it’s not for reasons that it’s offensive, it’s just a massive attempt to be controversial and it just falls flat. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel…
SUPPLEMENTS: This is where this Blu-ray shines, and no, it’s not in the endless deleted and extended scenes although Pete Rose does prove he is quite the arrogant dick (featured below) and the Latoya Jackson piece that was removed in respect to the death of Michael Jackson was neither offensive nor funny. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.
However, the interview with Lloyd Robinson, the agent that becomes the butt of many of Bruno’s jokes, is particularly interesting and he proves he has a great sense of humor about the whole thing. And the picture-in-picture commentary with Sacha Baron Cohen and director Larry Charles is incredibly interesting and is easily the highlight of the entire release.
What was real? What was fake? What was half-real and who was in on the joke? Everything is discussed and it is even presented in a way where the film pauses so Charles and Cohen can elaborate. As a matter of fact, it pauses to the extent the film itself runs approximately 27 minutes longer than the 82 minute theatrical runtime. For some reason it’s all much more entertaining when the story behind it all is known.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I can’t recommend you buy this Blu-ray. If you have a Netflix account you can rent it and be done with it. I thought Cohen’s Borat was far funnier and even that film I haven’t watched since receiving the DVD way back in 2007. So what are the chances of me watching this one again? None. Sorry, I like Cohen and think he is incredibly funny, but this just isn’t the one.
